Aims: Bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVSs) have been studied in chronic coronary artery disease, but not in acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This prospective multicentre study analysed the feasibility and safety of BVS implantation during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (p-PCI) in STEMI.
Methods and results: Bioresorbable vascular scaffold implantation became the default strategy for all consecutive STEMI patients between 15 December 2012 and 30 August 2013. A total of 142 patients underwent p-PCI; 41 of them (28.9%) fulfilled the inclusion/exclusion criteria for BVS implantation. The BVS device success was 98%, thrombolysis in myocardial infarction 3 flow was restored in 95% of patients, and acute scaffold recoil was 9.7%. An optical coherence tomography (OCT) substudy (21 patients) demonstrated excellent procedural results with only a 1.1% rate of scaffold strut malapposition. Edge dissections were present in a 38% of patients, but were small and clinically silent. Reference vessel diameter measured by quantitative coronary angiography was significantly lower than that measured by OCT by 0.29 (±0.56) mm, P = 0.028. Clinical outcomes were compared between BVS group and Control group; the latter was formed by patients who had implanted metallic stent and were in Killip Class I or II. Combined clinical endpoint was defined as death, myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularization. Event-free survival was the same in both groups; 95% for BVS and 93% for Control group, P = 0.674.
Conclusion: Bioresorbable vascular scaffold implantation in acute STEMI is feasible and safe. The procedural results evaluated by angiography and OCT are excellent. The early clinical results are encouraging.
Keywords: Acute myocardial infarction; Biodegradable stent; Bioresorbable vascular scaffold; Optical coherence tomography; Primary PCI.